


Family is meant to be chosen

by cisquexlily



Series: All butterflies have broken wings [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, Domestic Fluff, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, I wont address whether she died or whatever, I'm not nice to my characters sorry, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, May is mysteriously absent just accept it, Peter Parker is a Good Bro, Peter is smol and awkward at times with his new found sister, Quite Literally, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark is a good fucking father fight me, Tony Stark's actual A+ Parenting, also neglect, as that's not what this fic is about, but it gets cute I promise, maybe I'll do something about it later who knows, rated teen for abuse/neglect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-06-13 02:15:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15354003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cisquexlily/pseuds/cisquexlily
Summary: Peter suddenly gains a sister, and his secret identity is inevitably revealed to her.





	Family is meant to be chosen

        Tony Stark wasn’t seen as the type to willingly father children, even to himself. Which was why he felt out of his element as he signed his second set of adoption papers. In his defence, the first kid he adopted was practically his son before he signed the forms, and he definitely wasn’t about to let a teenager fend for herself in a neglectful home; hence the second set of adoption papers.

 

        He got the impression that Riley was a great kid despite not knowing her incredibly well, and he knew almost immediately that she and Peter would get along. Tony sent a message ahead of time to warn the boy and hoped he had seen it as he entered the compound with Riley.

 

        “This place is… absurd,” She said in wonder. She was understandably overwhelmed at the fact that she had escaped the clutches of her parents, and to be adopted - or more accurately be fostered - by Iron Man so soon after the fact and on such short notice was really raising her tolerance for amazement. Tony grinned.

 

        “Personally I find it a little bland.”

 

        She picked up on his teasing tone and chose not to answer, and silently followed him to wherever he was taking her. The room they entered was something akin to a common room, with a kitchen, living room and bar area all neatly tucked into one room. Riley spotted someone sprawled across the floor in the living room area, surrounded by papers, textbooks and discarded stationery.

 

        “Hey, Peter,” Tony greeted, and the boy’s head immediately snapped towards them. He grinned and moved over to them with surprising speed.

 

        “Hi, you’re Riley, right? I’m Peter,” He rushed out, then grimaced. “That was obvious, wasn’t it?”

 

        “A little,” She admitted, smiling awkwardly. Even with the hospitality, she couldn’t help but feel out of place - especially around Tony.

 

        “Sorry about all that,” Peter gestured vaguely to the mess of paper and pens. “Midterms and all.”

 

        Riley nodded understandingly, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt in her hands. She watched Tony move around the kitchen, making food.

 

        “So what subjects do you like?” He asked.

 

        “Science,” She answered quickly, happy to keep her mind off how uncomfortable she was.

 

        “Cool! Are you good at chemistry? There’s this one chapter I can’t understand…” He trailed off and led her to his workplace on the floor.

 

        As she sat and did her best to explain the theory to him, she realised that he didn’t need her help once she saw several worksheets on the chapter filled out. Riley smiled and continued to talk while Tony destructively cooked in the background. She liked her new home.

 

-:-:-:-:-:-

 

        Riley had lived at the compound for a total of two months. She had changed schools to Peter’s and was officially adopted by Tony. The members of the Avengers team that she had met were friendly and welcoming, and Tony was a surprisingly great father.

 

        Everything was perfect, except for one thing. She was 90% sure Peter was hiding something from her, and Tony seemed to be in on it. If there was one thing that she was sure of, it was that she was going to find out what.

 

        “Peter?” She asked from her spot on the sofa, bent a little awkwardly to see the boy in question making a beeline to the door. He stopped in his tracks and muttered something under his breath. “Where are you going?”

 

        “Uh, to um, Ned’s. Yeah. We need to study. For Spanish.” He stumbled over his words in a way he hadn’t since they first met. Riley narrowed her eyes.

 

        “Ned takes French,” She said, pulling herself up to a standing position and approaching him. “What’s going on?”

 

        There was a guilt-tinged silence on Peter’s end as he decided what to say. But before Riley could press on or Peter could try to escape the conversation, Tony walked in with a much too casual air.

 

        “There you are, kid. I thought I was taking you to your excitable friend’s house for whatever reason?”

 

        Peter struggled with what to say as Tony lead him outside.

 

        “You know the rules, Riles. No drinking, no late bedtime, eat dinner. Have fun!” Tony called as he pushed Peter out of the door in front of him and promptly shut it. Outside and out of sight of Riley, Tony shot his adopted son a look. “If you’re going to hide your ‘secret outings’ for her, you’re gonna have to get better at fabricating cover stories.”

 

        “I don’t like lying,” Peter protested.

 

“Then just tell her,” Tony said flippantly.

 

        “Are you crazy?” There was a slight shriek to the boy's tone.

 

        “Depends on who you ask.” He then sighed. “Look, kid, she not going to change her opinion on you or whatever you’re thinking. Riley’s incredibly laid-back about things like this, which might be concerning to me in the future, but for now, it’s a good thing. She’s going to find out one way or another, you just have to decide whether or not you’ll get a say in how.”

 

-:-:-:-:-:-

 

        Riley was good at noticing patterns. It was part of the reason that she survived so long living with her parents. Once you figure out what sets someone off and what placates them, you get away with much more. Similar logic applied to Peter.

 

        He was a bad liar, and so his suspicious behaviour was easily noticeable. He would leave in the late evenings every other day, and after school on the rest. Sometimes he would be out until the early morning, other times he would return just before dinner. On those days Riley saw that he moved almost stiffly and in a way that was eerily familiar.

 

        It was the day before their maths quiz, and Peter stayed at the compound to study with Riley. __It’s my only chance__ , she rationalised outside his bedroom door, before knocking and walking in. Peter was slouched over textbooks and papers - much like he was the day she first met him.

 

        “Peter? How’s it going?” Riley asked and gently shut the door.

 

        “S’okay,” He replied while scribbling away. There was a lengthy pause, and he stopped writing to look at her with as much attentiveness as he could manage while reciting formulas to himself. His tone was concerned. “What’s up?”

 

        “You’re worrying me.” It was simple and to the point, as Riley often spoke with them. She found it refreshing to speak her mind without consequences and made it a habit, though neither Peter or Tony knew that. Before Peter could respond, she continued. “You disappear after school an awful lot, and when you don’t you sneak out at night.”

 

        Her voice had a certain hollow quality to it, hiding how uncomfortable she was. She pursed her lips then wet them, nervous, and sat down on his messy bed.

 

        “Whenever you come back, you’re hurt. And don’t tell me I’m wrong.” Riley said after seeing him ready to protest. “I know what it looks like to move when you’re in pain. I had to learn myself so I could hide it better. Someone’s hurting you and I’m not about to let it go. I don’t know what you’ve told Tony that makes him indifferent to it because he fusses over you even if you so much as sneeze.”

 

        Peter smiled a little bit at that, but dropped it when Riley didn’t too.

 

        “Is it Flash? I know he doesn’t bother you any more but he’s the only one I can think of with both motive and the ability to-”

 

        “It’s not Flash,” He said with a sigh. “Wait here.”

 

        Riley watched, curious, as Peter disappeared into his walk-in closet and emerged with a metal suitcase. He placed it beside her on his bed and sat on its other side. On the front of the case, the Stark Industries logo was clearly visible.

 

        “What’s this?” She asked with a barely visible frown, more noticeable in her voice. When Peter reached over and opened it, she breathed in quite sharply at the sudden unfolding of the parts inside it.

 

        “Oh.” Fully visible inside the case was the familiar red and blue fabric of the Spiderman suit. Blue holograms danced around the suit with statistics and schematics, identical to the holograms in Tony’s workshop.

 

        “Yeah. I’m Spiderman.” Peter shrugged awkwardly. He was simultaneously anxious to see a further reaction and happy to leave it at that and continue studying.

 

        “That.. that explains things. Pretty well, actually. I can’t believe Tony is in on this. Scratch that, I can’t believe Tony is __okay__ with this. Does he… does he know?” She rambled, ending with apprehension.

 

        “He knows,” He assured. “He made the suit himself, how couldn’t he?”

 

        “I don’t know, it just seems like he would never let you.” She then gasped. “I can’t believe I wasn’t allowed to go to the party after the midterms when you were out fighting crime!”

 

        Peter dissolved into laughter, and though she was still a little shell-shocked Riley joined him.

 

        “Okay, so did you help make any of this?” Riley asked once they recovered.

 

        “I helped upgrade the web shooters a while back, and I designed the web fluid myself.” There was a little more than a hint of pride in his voice.

 

        “That’s awesome! How did you do it?”

 

        They talked for hours before Tony interrupted to remind them they had a test the next day. Both teens scrabbled to revise as much as they could in their remaining time, with promises to talk further after the said test.

 

        Everything in Riley’s life regained its balance.

**Author's Note:**

> I have so many ideas for this series you guys, so buckle up kiddos shit's about to get FLUFFY. Also thanks for reading as this is very self-indulgent.


End file.
